School Board member Tom Neild, left, listens to an answer from Melody Chappell for one of his questions. The Beaumont School Board held a special meeting Friday March 8, 2013 where they were going to discuss the 7/0 redistricting map and possibly amending the election order. They went into Executive Session after discussing and voting on two action items and when they came out, adjourned the meeting. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

School Board Vice President Janice Brassard, left, has a discussion with fellow board member Mike Neil, right, before the board took to voting on their action items. The Beaumont Independent School Board met Thursday night, January 10, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. in the board room of the administration building to discuss the Department of Justice objection to a 5-2 election scheme and what their future plans would be. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

School Board Vice President Janice Brassard, left, has a discussion...

Danny Major expresses his displeasure with the BISD Superintendent Dr. Carrol Thomas and the board over the proposed feasibility study to build a hotel and event center in partnership with private business during the BISD board meeting at the BISD Administration building in Beaumont, Thursday. The Beaumont Board of Realtors released a statement against the board's plans to do a feasibility study for building a hotel and event center in partnership with private business. Tammy McKinley/The Enterprise
Photo: TAMMY MCKINLEY

The Beaumont school district released a list of candidates today who have filed to run for trustee seats on Nov. 5.

Regardless of the filings, there remains an untold number of legal rounds left between attorneys who represent clients who filed to run in the May election and attorneys for the school district whose legal efforts resulted in the cancellation of the May election.

The list sent out by BISD states that the election on Nov. 5 is for trustee districts Four, Six and Seven.

Incumbent trustee Gwen Ambres filed on Friday for re-election to District Four. Incumbent trustee Tom Neild filed on Monday for re-election in District Six. Incumbent trustee Janice Brassard filed on Monday for re-election in District Seven and challenger Joseph Kyle Hilliard also filed Monday to run in District Seven.

In case there are at-large seats that go up for election in November, incumbent trustees Terry D. Williams, Zenobia Randall Bush and Woodrow "Woody" Reece - all of whom currently represent single-member districts - would run at-large.

Candidate filing for the election started July 27 and ended Monday. The school board approved the election order on Aug. 15.

Efforts to stage an election for BISD have taken several sharp curves this year.

Attorneys for challengers who sought to run in districts held by incumbents Williams, Bush and Reece contended that all districts should be up for election this year because it is the first available election after census redistricting. The challengers asserted the state education code requires all trustee districts to be up for election regardless of whether the incumbents are in mid-term.

A state appeals court agreed with that position, but the school district opposed it in federal court, which delayed the May election because of it.

Then, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a portion of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states, including Texas, to win U.S. Department of Justice approval before changing any voting laws. After that, the federal court that had taken jurisdiction in the BISD case dismissed it because it no longer had jurisdiction. That sent the case back to state courts. The state appeals court, which is where the case started, has not taken action and there isn't an order for an election from a state district court to hold an election.

Attorneys for the challengers who brought the appeals court action in March have contended state election law prohibits a school district election that is not held at the same time as it usually has been held, which is in May. Also, because there is no accompanying municipal or county officer election this November, a school district may not hold its election as well.

However, a court could order the school district to hold an election in November, but none has done that to date.